


Doctor Strange’s Powers: Eldritch Barrier

by startrekfan



Series: Doctor Strange's Powers [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Analysis, Gen, Magic, powers, spell, spells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 10:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15883878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekfan/pseuds/startrekfan





	Doctor Strange’s Powers: Eldritch Barrier

[Originally posted by dailymcugifs](https://tmblr.co/ZqMTdi2XgNGEx)

Without a specific name, the “Eldritch Barrier” (it’s made using his Eldritch Magic aaand it’s a barrier) is perfect for absorbing impact…however…not so perfect because the sorcerer conjuring the spell still can’t do it perfectly! Strange more than once showed insecurity about his spells, despite being able to conjure them and despite being badass as hell, Strange clearly still learned 100% of the spells he showed us in the movie, even if he’s a lot more experienced by now. The Barrier is supposed to act not just like a….barrier, but also like an impact “nullifier” or “anulator”. Considering Peter, Tony and Stephen were inside a crashing ship, we know the problem isn’t just whatever object that might hit you. but the impact per se. We already know strong impacts might damage inner organs and even dislocate neurons from place, killing the person even if they’re apparently intact. The thing is so serious that despite having a super high tech armor, Tony and Peter are SUPER worried. Tony would be confident if he knew his armor and Peter’s could sustain such an impact, but he doesn’t know if they actually can! That’s why he’s so nervous and scared. Considering the scenario we saw in the movie, the only one who would most likely survive was Peter, because of his enhanced durability and higher density plus improved regeneration skills. Even so, if I had to bet, I would bet Spidey would survive, but probably be in a coma and wake up only days later.

So, as we see, to conjure the spell, Strange joins his hands, gathers energy and then crosses his arms, his hands facing the direction he wants to place the front of the barrier. But that’s not just it. The barrier continues forming and makes a cylinder around Strange and the others, and supposedly, that cylinder gets unaffected by external impacts, pressure and temperature (yeah, the temperature outside could have been lethal as well). After the impact, Tony fell or crouched and Spidey got attached to the ceiling, so yeah, Strange’s spell isn’t perfect yet, some of the impact hit them despite his effort.

[Originally posted by strangestephens](https://tmblr.co/Zp14Hv2bGkEBg)

Considering the face Strange makes when he’s using the spell, the barrier (at least the high level of the spell he used) demands a lot of energy, and despite the energy used not being directly Strange’s, Stephen definitely has to use a lot of his own energy in order to conjure the energy to be used in the barrier. For the barrier to absorb and nullify all that impact, its energy probably has to be the same or very close to the energy of the impact, which is A LOT OF ENERGY. Strange got drained and it would explain well why he’s more defensive than offensive during the fight against the Guardians, and why the Cloak steps forward to stop Drax, preventing a direct fight between tired Stephen and angry Drax. Stephen still is able to fight, but if we check his breathing and his expression, we can see he’s super tired. His hands are shaking more and he looks way more stressed than usual.

As you can see, the barrier surrounds them, what makes it less like a shield and more like a super resistant force field.

You know what’s interesting? That wasn’t the first time we saw that spell. Wong also conjured it in the beginning of the movie during the fight against Ebony Maw and the Black Dwarf. And do you know what’s even more interesting? Wong used different hand signs to conjure it. Differently from Strange’s version of the spell, Wong just conjured the front of the barrier. Considering Wong is Strange’s teacher and he probably still is more skilled than Strange, we can assume the sorcerer can choose the “level” of the spell they are conjuring by controlling the amount of energy they use.

Strange seems very chill about the fight when Wong intervenes, so that sort of proves how that Barrier is super resistant. The impact of a ship might have required an extreme skill with that spell, but in most situations, the barrier and Strange’s experience is more than enough to handle it. In fact, if we think about it, the ones attacking Wong are super strong and even so, Strange and Wong seem super confident about it.

So, we can conclude every spell has levels and each level demands more energy. Higher levels don’t mean just more spell strength, but they also mean different spell utilities, as we saw in Wong’s barrier (level 2?) that is huge but has just the front of the barrier and as we saw in Strange’s barrier (level 3?) that’s not just huge, but it also forms a cylinder around himself, Tony and Peter. Wong probably knows how to conjure higher levels of the spells, but Strange probably is the guy who’s able to do it because of his intense willpower and determination, while I believe Wong is less clumsy and more skilled, Strange is more intense and explosive, but also clumsy and a bit unstable.

 See? He’s a bit clumsy. He totally loses balance when he uses the Crimson Bands. The Cloak can cover that, but still, Infinity War’s direction and Benedict’s acting were perfect to give us the impression Strange grew a lot, learned new spells and he’s freaking powerful, but that still, he’s not a sorcerer supreme yet, he’s not complete, he still has a lot to learn and he’s still is getting used to the powerful spells he learned, he’s still getting used to his own intense potential, a potential he still doesn’t quite know how to use or control.

[Originally posted by thetony-stark](https://tmblr.co/ZC_0li2XizFX2)


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